From Now On
by Red 'Allen' Walker
Summary: A one-shot for PhannieMay19. Prompt: Secrets. It wasn't a secret that Danny was getting bullied. So why were the Fentons still so oblivious? And where did Danny go?


**_Secrets_**

**_A bit angsty and talks about... dissection for a brief moment._****_I wanted to write something about the people of Amity Park, but then it wrote itself to another thing._**

It really wasn't a secret that Danny Fenton was bullied. The parents were the only ones that were in the dark.

Of course, every parent would like to believe that their children were happy and shiny, a bit reckless but nevertheless a joy to have around. And of course, that is what they believed.

But one could only push the boundaries of obliviousness so far.

Because even these parents could see that Danny Fenton was a patchwork of scars and had every color of the spectrum on his skin, no matter how much he tried to avoid the topic. It wasn't a secret because everyone knew. And Danny was a terrible liar.

They knew from the children's gossips that Dash never took his bullying too far. Shoving him into lockers, mocking him, but never to the extent to wound or hurt the boy to the extent he turned _purple_.

So why were the Fentons still _oblivious_?

\--

Then it began.

It started with Dash being more irritated without his favorite punching bag around. With Sam and Tucker being more reclusive and avoided everyone around them like the plague. And the moment Sam snarled when the Fentons came to school for mandatory ghost attack decontamination.

It started when Danny stopped coming to class. No one had any idea where he went.

4 days later, he came back, no longer discolored, but with the most cynical, and tired look on his face. He had managed to sneak away from Dash, and during one inevitable encounter, he hissed, like an animal baring their teeth, causing Dash to drop him from his grip.

The day Danny went back to school, the Fentons started calling everyone they knew. Danny hadn't come home that day. They claimed that Danny went to school everyday with Jazz, who remained silent on the matter.

When they asked when was the last time they actually saw him, they heard horrible gasps of realization. They last saw him face to face last Monday, the 14th. Today was the _23rd_. They saw him _9_ days ago.

They didn't know what to say.

Now, Danny wasn't emotionally or mentally balanced, everyone noticed. But physically, he looked better. He was pale but now he had a little more color, and he wasn't so skinny anymore. His smile didn't reach his eyes, but he looked healthier.

The Fentons didn't understand when they decided to tell them that Danny _still_ went to school, and passed his homework on time. His grades went up from a C- to a B. Not the best grade out there, but an improvement. They didn't understand why he wouldn't come home.

Danny looked healthier than ever, and so they ruled out any illegal activities.

There were so many questions. Things that didn't fit.

But the most important question was where _did_ and where _does_ Danny go?

\--

The Fentons decided to ambush Danny after school. The parents went wild in their secret group chat. They didn't know when it started, but all they ever talked about was the young Fenton. One moment they were talking about school activities, and the next there wasn't a message without his name on it. And the next, they found themselves in front of the school, under the guise of picking up their children.

The trio exited the doors, blissfully unaware of having all eyes on them. But as soon as Danny laid eyes of his parents, he froze. Sam and Tucker, who continued walking looked back at him to ask why he stopped. When they followed his eyes they found the bright orange and teal jumpsuits.

Danny stepped back, smiled, saying he had to talk with Mr. Radwealth about his homework and calmly went back inside. The Fentons looked at each other and nodded, then ran inside, insisting that they had to talk right then and there.

The children looked at each other. Everyone knew Mr. Radwealth didn't give homework.

When the Fenton's reemerged, the only thing they discussed was how Danny vanished like a ghost from their sights.

\--

Phantom finally reappeared after a week's absence.

It wasn't a secret that the Fentons despised him.

But when the Fentons started talking about strapping him better into a dissection table did people realize why he was gone.

\--

When Danny immediately ran towards a silver limousine that was parked outside Amity Park, they didn't know what to think. Even as that limousine vanished as soon as it hit the corner.

\--

Vlad couldn't believe the foolishness and obliviousness the Fentons had shown towards their son. Their invasive, abusive, repulsive methods towards ghosts.

He used to live for that. He pursued the science since his college years. The joy of pursuing your passion and interests, with the bonus of spending time with Maddie.

He _loved_ her.

But love was indeed blind. Because she chose someone like Jack, who Vlad thought as nothing more but a blundering idiot. Because she was more than he could ever imagine or give her credit for. Because it made him forget that Maddie was the most passionate woman who would do anything to get what she deemed was important.

No matter how much of a nemesis Phantom was to him,

He didn't dare to imagine Danny strapped to the table.

Danny came to him, on a day where Vlad happened to be on a day off, at a time where Danny was supposed to be at school. The boy was running, panting, sweating, _crying_ when Vlad opened the door. The boy was clutching himself tightly, like he was going to fall apart if he let go.

Whatever or whoever it was that led him to that doorway, they did the trick.

Because Danny came to his greatest enemy, the only person who would understand.

\--

It took a lot of coaxing to get Danny to let go of himself. Vlad could see the green seeping from his shirt, staining it and the surroundings a toxic green.

There was... a 'doorway' in and to his chest. A doorway that stretched from the middle of his chest and down to just above his bellybutton.

It had started to close up due to his ghostly healing factor.

Vlad didn't ask where it came from.

It was then that he realized, that though he loved Maddie, her spot has been replaced by the little badger. The one that understood. That gave a damn. No matter how much they fought. No matter how the boy viewed him.

Whenever he sees Danny come home, on time, with a sad smile on his face, he knows one day, he'll get over it. It'll hurt a lot, he knew. The physical and psychological trauma, it would take years. But Danny had a step in he right direction. It didn't matter what Vlad and Danny used to be. Enemies, nemesis, family friend.

All he wanted to do now, was this kid, the only other one of their kind, to never, under any circumstance, be like him.

Danny wasn't a family friend anymore, Vlad mused as he sat on his couch.

He was a son-figure. Family. Vlad smiled. No-one else needed to know that. _Yet_.

\--

The Fentons attacked Phantom again, and Vlad was livid.

When Danny came to school limping, the parents went wild.

The Fentons decided to be there too. Jazz was watching with pained expressions on the sidelines.

The police were called under an anonymous tip.

A crowd started to form when out of the usual limousine that picked him up from school came the incredibly rich, incredibly grand, and incredibly furious Vladimir Masters, who had a firm grip on Danny's shoulders. Danny obviously wanted to leave. Just disappear from the face of the Earth again like he did everyday.

Vlad's grip loosened, a moment of hesitation, softness, weakness. He looked sorry.

The Fentons went mad. Vlad kidnapped their child. Abused him. Hurt him. All sorts of allegations that caught the eye of the press. He hushed them all with a firm declaration of 'I'm sorry Daniel, but this ends now.'

With the everyone watching, all cameras running, and with all determination he could muster, he began.

But it was, surprisingly, Danny that spoke for him.

"Vlad didn't kidnap me." He stared at the ground. Everyone noticed that he didn't bother to address his mom and dad. They ran towards him, gripping him tightly in the arms, to which he recoiled, and buried himself closer to the millionaire's chest.

"Danny?" His mother coaxed.

"I went to him myself." He bit his lip. "I... didn't want to stick around. I didn't... I didn't..."

"What did you do to my baby?!" Maddie cried. "You hurt him--"

"If there is anyone here that is hurting him, it is you. His parents." Vlad hissed, holding Danny protectively. "You didn't give a damn about him, how he went home bruised all over, how he didn't turn over assignments, didn't sleep, didn't eat, no, you stayed in your laboratory, fixing your equipment, arguing, you didn't care enough."

Vlad took a breath. The Fentons were caught off guard, and then sputtered in indignation. Vlad knew, that there was only one way to stop this. To keep Danny and Phantom safe. Danny might hate him for this next move, but he was already enough of a villain.

"And then you hurt him. You wound him, physically, emotionally. Psychologically. You shoot at him with your weapons, I've seen them knock him dead center in the head, I've seen you cut--" People gasped, but he lost his care. He only felt bile rise in his throat and Danny stiffen. They talked over it the week before, but after Danny tried to talk to his parents of his alter ego the previous night, he lost hope. They didn't believe him, after they'd shown them. "I've seen enough of it."

"Vlad--" Danny tried to speak. But his words caught in his throat.

"What do you want, Vlad?" Jack frowned.

"We won't need the court in this one. But if we have to go then so be it. Because we-- _Danny_ will _testify_ for _himself_." _And I'll do whatever I can to save him from you._

Danny understood the game Vlad was playing. He knew the consequences of choosing his side. But if it meant that less people would hurt this way...

Vlad was determined to save his kid. Because he was now his son, and that wasn't going to be a secret from now on.

**_I wanted a platonic father-son relationship between Danny and Vlad... I might write more in the future... but no guarantees._**

**_I always saw Maddie as a kind mom. She's nice to her family, but you can never forget that she is a scientist. I'd like to imagine her as brilliant yet caring, but her obsession with Phantom is unhealthy. _****_Sorry. A bit projecting over here..._**


End file.
